Demand for Ministers' resignations rejected
The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee,
today strongly defended the Ayodhya agitation for the
construction of a Ram temple terming it an ``expression of
nationalist feelings'' and said the ``task has remained
unfinished''.

Vajpayee clarifies
Hours after the political furore caused by his
remarks on Ayodhya this morning, the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B.
Vajpayee, tried to somewhat temper what he had said and insisted
that he had not supported the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

LS, RS again adjourned
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for
the day soon after they assembled with Opposition members
demanding the resignation of three Central Ministers charged in
the Babri Masjid demolition case.

'Govt. ready for bold steps in Kashmir'
Authoritative sources within the Vajpayee
establishment insist that the Government is ``prepared to take
bold steps'' and if need be is ``ready to explore unexplored
avenues to restore normality in Jammu and Kashmir''.

CJI issue: SC dismisses Jethmalani's plea
The Supreme Court today rejected the plea of
the former Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, who raised a
controversy in his book on the age of the Chief Justice of India
(CJI), to intervene in the suo motu contempt proceedings
initiated against the Chennai-based lawyer, Mr. S.K. Sundaram.

I still have a 50-50 chance, says Gore
The Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore, has refused
to put a time-frame on his quest for the White House, despite a
feeling in the Democratic party that the impasse over the U.S.
presidential election is close to being settled in the Florida
Supreme Court on Thursday.

St. Kitts case: Rao's discharge upheld
The Supreme Court today dismissed a special
leave petition filed by the CBI against the judgment of the Delhi
High Court in the ``St. Kitts case,'' involving former Prime
Minister, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao.

Postal strike: Paswan holds talks with union leaders
With more postal workers joining the strike,
even the foreign postal services have been hit on the second day
today. The Communications Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, held
talks with union leaders for over two hours.

U.N. to impose sanctions on Taliban
The United Nations Security Council is all set
to impose sweeping sanctions against the Taliban and demand that
Pakistan immediately end its military and political intervention
in Afghanistan.